Means for disinfecting toilet bowls



March 6, 1934.

E. R. FRENCH MEANS FOR DISINFECTING TOILET BOWLS Filed Dec. 8, 1951 INVEN TOR.

{aw/w? Rave/7g Patented Mar. 6, 1634 UNITED STATES MEANS FOR DISINFECTING TOILET BOWLS' Edward R. French, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor of one-half to Beatrice 0. French and one-half to Ralph S. Martin, both of Philadelphia, Pa.

Applicatiol-December 8, 1931, Serial No. 579,692

ICIalmL My invention relates to a new and useful means for disinfecting toilet bowl whereby the water in the flush tank of a toilet is at all times charged with a suitable quantity of disinfectant so that the water used to flush the bowl, as well as the water remaining in the bowl as a seal after the bowl has been flushed, should be sterile and antiseptic.

My invention further relates to novel means for disinfecting a toilet bowl which can be made and sold as an independent unit to be applied to toilets already built without in any way interfering with the structure of the toilet or necessitating any material alteration.

My invention further relates to means of this character which can be sold in a refillable or non-refillable manner, as may be desired.

To the above ends, my invention consists of a container of any suitable shape adapted to con- 20 tain a disinfectant and having an outlet opening in the bottom thereof, a check valve built therein, which check valve can be manipulated by the mere action of flushing the toilet bowl automatically to discharge some of the disinfectant in 5 the container into the fiush tank of the toilet,

together with means for supporting said container above the normal level of the water in the flush tank.

My invention further consists of various other novel features of construction and advantage, all as hereinafter described and claimed in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 represents a. vertical sectional view of a flush tank of a toilet provided with disinfecting means embodying my invention.

, Figure 2 represents on an enlarged scale a fragmentary sectional view showing details of the valve construction.

Figures 3 and 4 are sections on line 3-3 and 4-4 of Figure 2 respectively.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, 1 designates a flush tank of a toilet having the pipe 2 leading to the toilet bowl (not shown). 3 designates the overflow and 4 the ball valve which is adapted to close the pipe 2, said ball valve being operated by the turning of the handle' 5 to actuate the lever 6 which is adjustably connected at '7 to the operating rod 8 which is guided in the apertured lug 9. 10 designates the disinfectant container which is supported by the straps 11 or any equivalent means to the side of the flush tank 1, and which may be of a non-refillable character, if so desired, or it may have the movable cap 12 through which the supply of disinfectant 13 within the container 10 can be replenished. In the under side of the container 10 is an outlet 15 in which is built the valve 16 which is protected with the ball 17 to limit its downward motion. The valve 16 is provided with a notch 80 or groove 18 and with the bottom horizontal arm 19. When the handle 5 is turned to raise the rod 8, the end of the lever 6, to which the upper end of the rod 8 is secured, presses upwardly against the horizontal arm 19 thereby raising the valve 16 upwardly into the ,container 10. When the valve has been raised into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, some of the disinfectant 13 in the container 10 enters the notch or groove 18, and when the handle 5 has completed its turn and the lever 6 is in the position shown in Figure 1, the valve 16 drops by its own weight into the position shown in solid lines in Figure 2 and as shown in Figure 1 and the liquid disinfectant which entered the notch 18 when the valve was raised now drops out into the flush tank 1. The valve 16 normally closes the opening 15 regardless of the ball 17, so that only the amount of disinfectant entering the notch 18 can pass from the container 10 to the flush tank 1 and then only when the valve 16 has been raised and lowered by the operation of flushing the toilet bowl by manipulating the handle 5, as shown. In order to insure constant contact between the arm 19 and the juxtaposed por tion of the lever 6 to insure actuation of the valve 16, I use a hook or its equivalent 20 for tying the end of the arm 19 to the end of the lever 6. Since this hook 20 is simply intended to insure contact between the arm 19 and the front end of lever 6, it is obvious that any other method, such as keying the valve 16 to the outlet 15, or any other suitable expedient can t be used. The arm 19 can be secured at its inner end to the lower end of the valve 16 by means of a, set screw (not shown) or any other suitable device, and the cap 12 of the containen 10 is preferably located directly above the valve 16, so that after the container 10 has been spun or otherwise formed it is possible to drop the valve 16 into position in the outlet 15 through the opening which is normally covered by the cap 12. This also renders the valve 16 accessible for cleansing, replacement or repair; In order to facilitate the dropping of the liquid contained in the groove 18 into the flush tank 1, the edges of the groove 18 are rounded as in 21. The length of the arm 19 can be adjusted in accordance with the length or shape of the lever 6 and it is obvious that the 110 hook 20 connectingthearmliltotheirontend or the lever 6 can engage any one or the adjustment' apertures 7.

While I have described my invention in connection with a particular type of flush tank, it is to be understood that my novel container and its adjuncts canbe adapted for actuation or operation in conjunction with flushtanks 01 other constructions, such as the push down handle type, the push button type, the pull chain type, and so on. When the disinfectant in the container 10 is exhausted, the supply can either be replenished through the removable pipe or closure 12 or a new unit 10 can be installed, ii. desired. It is also in the scope of my invention to color the dishifeotant 13 in the-container 10 to match the color of the flush tank, toilet bowl and other bath room fixtures, so that the water seal remaining in the toilet bowl may have the same color as the toilet bowl and other fixtures.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimasnewanlrldesiretoseourehyletters close the latter, there being a recess in said plug at a point normally below the bottom edge of said outlet, and means for raising said plug into said container to raise said recess to a point above the upper edge of said outlet to 1111 said recess with said disinfectant solution, the contents 01 said recess falling into the flush tank when said plug drops ironi its raised position.

EDWARD R. FRENCH. 

